FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a known interface 3 between a smart card 2 and a device 1.
In the present specification, the device 1 is preferably a telecommunication terminal, such as a mobile handset, but also can be any device, such as a personal computer.
Similarly, the smart card 2 is preferably a UICC (“UMTS Integrated Circuit Card”, UMTS meaning “Universal Mobile Telecommunication System”), but could be of any type of smart card, such as a SD card (“Secure Device” card) or a MMC card (“MultiMedia Communications” card) for instance.
The interface 3 allows data transfers between the smart card 2 and the device 1 and power supply to the smart card 2.
More specifically, the UICC bears a SIM (“Subscriber Identity Module”) for an account of a user of the smart card 2 according to the GSM (“Global System for Mobile communications”) protocol. The UICC also bears at least a USIM (“Universal SIM”) for at least an account of a user according to the UMTS protocol. UICC is currently based on ISO (“International Organization for Standardization”) standard extended by ETSI (“European Telecommunications Standard Institute”) and 3GPP (“Third Generation Partnership Project”) specifications.
The following documents can be consulted to know what the specifications of the protocols carried out in the UICC card are: ISO 7816-3, ETSI SCP TS 102 221 and 3GPP TS 31.101 for instance. ISO/ETSI also define the voltage and power available for the different UICC cards. In some specific cases, other specification apply such as TS 102 221 for UICC (used by 3GPP and 3GPP2 for telecommunication smart cards).
FIG. 2 shows that the smart card 2 comprises a card 6 in which a chip 5, comprising pins, is embedded. The pins of the chip 5 are connected to a stamp 4 on the surface of the card 6. The stamp 4 comprises conventionally eight contacts, referred to as C1 to C8. The format of the card of FIG. 2 is ID-000 UICC, but can be of any format, such as ID-1 UICC or Mini UICC format.
The interface 3 of FIG. 1 comprises on the side of the device a smart card reader, and on the side of the smart card comprises the contacts C1 to C8.
The contacts C1 to C8 have a function within the interface 3 with respect to data transfer protocols between the smart card 2 and the device 1 and/or power supply to the smart card 2.
Table 1 shows an example of the different functions of the contacts in the interface 3 for ISO 7816-2 specifications.
TABLE 1ISO contact allocation#AssignmentC1VccC2RSTC3CLKC4Future useC5GNDC6Vpp (not used)C7I/OC8Future use
In Table 1, Vcc is the terminal for the power supply (power input), GND is the ground terminal, RST is a reset signal terminal, Vpp is the Voltage programming power terminal (not used currently), CLK is the clock signal terminal, I/O is the Input/Output data terminal and C4 and C8 are left for future use.
There are therefore three contacts, namely C4, C6 and C8, which are not currently used. The three remaining contacts C4, C6 and C8 could be used for other applications and/or protocols for instance.
FIGS. 3a and 3b show that two main extra applications are currently desired on top of the applications already run in the device 1 and the smart card 2.
FIG. 3a shows that the first main desired application is the rapid transfer of data between the smart card 2 and the device 1. This need is due to the fact that files of bigger and bigger sizes coming from the device 1 must be managed by the smart card 2.
For instance, a module 72 of the device 1 can transfer big files to the smart card 2. Big files can be transmitted from a peripheral 71 for instance to the smart card 2 via the module 72, an interface 8 being thus established between the peripheral 71 and the module 72.
The peripheral 71 can be a digital camera for instance, or another peripheral device. In FIG. 3a, the peripheral 71 is represented outside the terminal 1, but could be positioned inside the device 1 as well.
FIG. 3b shows that the second main desired application is the transfer of data between a radio module 10 of the device 1 and the smart card 2. There is a data transfer between the radio module 10 and a post 11 via a magnetic field 12. The radio module 10 sends then the data to the smart card 2. The contactless data transfer between the post 11 and the smart card 2 is typically used for payment and/or identification applications.
These two applications are only examples, and other applications can also be desired on top of the applications already run in the device 1 and the smart card 2.
The current smart card 2 and device 1 have drawbacks for the running of the desired applications/protocols.
The ISO protocols and I/O terminal currently used in the prior art are limiting the interface data transfer speed (from 1.2 kBytes/s up to 50 kB/s). The transfer of data between the module 72 and the smart card 2 is too long for big files, coming from a high resolution digital camera for instance.
The rapid transfer can be done using MMC (“MultiMedia Communications”) and/or USB (“Universal Serial Bus”) protocols, allowing up to roughly 50 MB/s data transfer speeds. Full implementations of the MMC and USB protocols need more than two contacts to be implemented on the smart card 2. The MMC solution offers for instance a high transfer speed using four contacts. The configuration with four contacts is preferred to a solution with only two contacts, which provides limited bandwidth.
Furthermore, the contactless transfer application needs also at least two contacts to be implemented efficiently on the smart card.
One easily understands that if a rapid transfer protocol and a contactless application must be implemented on the smart card altogether, it is not possible to implement it on a smart card according to FIG. 2.
A possible solution to this problem is shown in FIGS. 4a, 4b, 5 and 6.
FIGS. 4a, 4b, 5 and 6 are schematic representations of known smart cards 2, comprising extra contacts 13 compared to the smart card of FIG. 2. The extra contacts 13 could be used to implement the desired applications and/or protocols on the smart card 2.
FIGS. 4a and 4b show that the extra contacts 13 are positioned at the back of the card 6. FIG. 5 shows that the extra contacts 13 are positioned at the front of the card 6, on the same side as the stamp 4. FIG. 6 shows that the extra contacts 13 are positioned in the central part of the stamp 4. The UICC cards of FIGS. 4a, 4b and 5 are ID-000 formats, and the UICC of FIG. 6 is Mini UICC format.
However, the size of the card is limited. Extra contacts 13 cannot be added each time an extra application and/or protocol must be implemented on a smart card.
Furthermore, the smart cards 2 of FIGS. 4a, 4b, 5 and 6 are not standard cards, and the formats with more contacts 13 as shown in FIGS. 4a, 4b, 5 and 6 are unlikely to be accepted as a new standards.